A Memory Called Empire is an English language speculative fiction novel published in 2019 by American historian AnnaLinden Weller under her pen name Arkady Martine. It won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and it is the first of two novels in the Teixcalaan duology, followed by A Desolation Called Peace.
The novel follows Mahit, a diplomat and translator sent from Lsel Station as ambassador to the galaxy-spanning empire of Teixcalaan, following the suspicious death of Yskandr, the previous ambassador. Mahit has been sent to Teixcalaan with an "imago," a cognitive implant of the memories and psyche of Yskandr, recorded fifteen years earlier, to help her investigate Yskandr's death and survive the challenges Mahit will face in her new role. Mahit is both helped and monitored by Three Seagrass, a rising diplomat within the empire, and both of them find themselves under the dangerous patronage of Nineteen Adze, one of the major political figures responsible for installing the current Emperor on his throne.
The empire derives clear cultural references from ancient Rome (including Byzantium), China, and the Triple Alliance of the Mexica: blood sacrifice, satirical and political poetry, elaborate bureaucracy, unique naming customs, and an aggressive habit of annexing all neighbouring territories (whether through force or economics) are all recognisable traits from these sources.
A Memory Called Empire has risen in popularity as part of a trend between 2015 and 2021 of speculative fiction with sapphic (lesbian and bisexual women) protagonists working to take down oppressive empires (often spanning entire galaxies) while living with the consciousness of a dead partner or colleague inside their minds. This novel can be recommended eagerly to anyone who enjoyed any of the other novels which have been a part of this trend, such as Seth Dickinson's The Traitor Baru Cormorant and Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit. Those who enjoyed Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice (2013), which has related themes if not quite so much focus on sapphic relationships, and Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, which has related plot beats but rather different themes (being a murder mystery in a haunted house in space), are also likely to enjoy the Teixcalaan duology.
Iron Noder 2021, 6/30